Each December before students head off for the long winter break, the student body elects new leadership for the Student Senate.

Junior Alex Robbins was elected president, making him the first fraternity man to lead the Senate since Greg Mahoney in 2005. Robbins is a member of Beta Theta Pi. Jeremy Wentzel ’14, an independent, was elected vice president.

We asked Robbins to share his thoughts heading into the new year:

“The number one item on the agenda that Mr. Wentzel and I want to accomplish is a transformation of the Senior Council, structurally and financially. The two biggest problems that we, and in some cases the student body have seen, are poor communication and the fact that the Council does not have to open its books.

Alex Robbins '13

“Once it receives funds, that’s it. No more questions asked. To fix the financial problem, we are going to work with our treasurer to open up the Sr. Council to audits or questions just like every other club on campus.

“The communication problems stems from a poorly structured system. I don’t think that any of it is a result of bad leadership from other administrations, in fact, Steve and Tyler have greatly improved student government in this area. But the Wabash Student Body is ready to take the next step. So, the Sr. Council is absorbing the Senior Council Activities Committee, the group that is responsible for the planning and execution of all-campus events. Seeing as campus unity is the primary goal of the Sr. Council, it makes no sense that SCAC members do not serve on the Council and their only representative is not a voting member. The changes we are making will make the at-large members of Sr. Council the SCAC members, giving them voting rights and giving a more direct responsibility to the Sr. Council on issues pertaining to all-campus events.

“Steve and Tyler have been very helpful since we found out that we won the election and helped take the first step in making structural changes to Sr. Council so that we are ready to roll when January comes. So we are lucky that we have two guys who have done so much for Wabash and want to see it be successful in the future to be here helping us get things in place for next semester.

Jeremy Wentzel '14

“Jeremy and I are excited to get started. We have both been in student government positions since our respective freshman years and we feel like we are ready to lead. Whether its by the changes I mentioned with Sr. Council, or offering new kinds of events for students, or trying to just find more effective and efficient ways to serve the student body, we are going to do everything we can to make the system better for Wabash student, present and future.”

Brent Harris – Students, faculty, staff, and Wabash College President Patrick White took a break from their end-of-semester finals schedule to participate in the traditional Midnight Munch. A total of 376 students poured through the Sparks Center doors during the 90-minute session to be served pancakes, biscuits and gravy, and other breakfast treats. A record number of bacon strips and sausage patties were prepared by the Bon Appétit staff.

Another unofficial record was set with the number of faculty and staff that spent their time serving meals and cleaning tables. President White spent the evening as a culinery artist, crafting Monon Bell, “W,” and other speciality pancakes.

Students and servers alike shared conversation, laughter —and few carbohydrates — to help with that final push to the end of the semester.

Those are the four components of our mission statement at Wabash, and they set the tone for the kind of learning we support at this liberal arts college for men.

However, the component that is easiest to let fall by the wayside is “Live Humanely.” People get busy in the hustle and bustle and rigors of life here at the College, and simply run out of time to get many such activities accomplished.

During Orientation Week our newest crop of students first arrive on campus and participate in community service projects. Many other fraternities and organizations do a good job of helping the world in which they live. But for a number of students on campus it is decidedly harder to find ways to live humanely.

If you can find an opportunity to support a good cause without sacrificing a lot of effort, it becomes a connecting point to help inculcate that value.

When Dean of Students Mike Raters ’85 was challenged by his counterpart at Hampden-Sydney College, one of the other all-male colleges in the country, he was excited about the opportunity to get the campus engaged in a meaningful endeavor.

That activity was Movember, a worldwide movement for men to grow moustaches during the month of November to promote awareness of men’s cancers. Raters enlisted my help and we brought on Jim Amidon ’87 and Tom Runge ’71 to help the cause. Both Amidon and Runge were cancer survivors and could solicit testimonials that would help rally the troops.

While many of our men were sent home looking awful scruffy at Thanksgiving, and some members of the faculty and staff complained that their significant others didn’t really appreciate the look, Movember was a huge success.

ll told, 115 Wabash men registered their moustaches on Movember’s website (http://us.movember.com) and they helped raise $225 dollars to promote cancer research. Results were still being verified from Hampden-Sydney, St. John’s, and Morehouse but things were looking good for the Little Giants. The Tigers of HSC had only grown 17 moustaches during the event!

So mark your calendars next year to help the movement be even bigger and better than it was this year.